PITTSBURG — A rising East Bay rapper and producer, charged last month with human trafficking and sex crimes involving an underage girl, recorded a promotional video in which he praised one of California”s most notorious child molesters and said he once belonged to his Oakland-based African-American empowerment organization.

Joshua Durham, 30, who uses the stage name “Five Hunnet,” filmed a portion of the 2011 video standing in front of the former Your Black Muslim Bakery in north Oakland, where Durham feted its founder, former Oakland mayoral candidate Yusuf Bey, who died in 2003 shortly after being charged, based on DNA evidence, with 27 counts of raping underage girls, fathering children with two of them when they were 13 and 14 years old.

The sisters later described themselves in court documents as sex slaves. Bey, in sermons televised across the Bay Area, often demeaned women, referring to them as “the floor upon men walk” and inferior and subordinate.

But to Durham, Bey was “a very respected, reputable person …. a strong, good person in the community (with) a good message in what he was teaching people about food, about health, about living life and prospering.”

Durham has pleaded not guilty to charges of human trafficking of a minor, having sex and forced oral copulation with a minor, and furnishing drugs to his victim. He remains jailed on $1.2 million bail.

Durham has an address in Bay Point, according to court documents, but was known around the Bay Area as an Oakland rapper. In the video, Durham also praised Bey for fathering at least 45 children by more than 10 women and said his stepfather took him to the bakery because “I was having my behavior problems. It tamed me (from) doing things. I went to certain meetings and actually met Yusuf Bey.” He makes no mention of Bey”s abuses of women and gives no indication what years he went to meetings or for how long.

Bey “was a monster,” said retired the Oakland detective Jim Saleda, who investigated the rape case. “He abused the hell out of those kids. I don”t know how many lives he ruined.”

Durham”s lawyer, Matthew Fregi, in a written statement to this newspaper, downplayed his client”s connection to the bakery, saying Durham was simply trying to promote his career in the video and that he should not be judged for one “asinine comment” made four years ago.

Fregi denied that Durham studied under Bey and said his client did not know of Bey”s abuse of women and children at the time he claims to have attended bakery meetings. Fregi also described Durham as an “aspiring rapper” and a “dime a dozen” musician trying to make himself controversial.

Durham has released more than 10 albums since 2002 and collaborated with some of the Bay Area”s top rappers, including San Quinn, Mistah Fab and the Jacka, a Pittsburg rapper killed in Oakland earlier this year. Durham claimed on social media earlier this year that he was opening a Concord Pavilion show for internationally known rappers Nicki Minaj and Meek Mill. That show was abruptly stopped because of crowd violence. It could not be immediately determined if Durham preformed.

While Fregi said any connection between Durham and Bey is coincidental, Saleda was skeptical. The bakery had “so many spider webs.” While Bey kept his victims for himself, “everyone there knew what was going on,” he said.

Pittsburg police started investigating Durham after the alleged victim — a female runaway who is younger than 17 years old — told her family that Durham had been soliciting her as a sex worker, authorities said.